Shila is the mnemonic listing of precepts, and by extension it is Vinaya, the
moral way. Vinaya is the first of the "Three Baskets" or Tripitaka,
the Buddhist canon, the others being Sutra and Abhidharma, the teachings and
the commentaries. Formally becoming a Buddhist is a matter of accepting the
precepts in the ceremony called Jukai. To understand how morality and Buddhism
go together, it is probably best to review the Buddhist teaching itself briefly:

The basic teaching of the Buddha is that there is no abiding self. Our being
is made up of and constantly depends upon other people, animals, plants, soil,
water, air, the planet earth, the other planets, the sun, moon and stars. Our
very genes are programmes provided to us by our ancestors and from unknown sources
back to the earliest green slime and before. Nothing is my own and everything
makes me up: my parents, grandparents - the birdsong, portraits by Rembrandt,
the scent of the Puakenikeni, and the laughter of a friend. Also forming my
being are death in the family, the danger of biological holocaust, misunderstandings,
and malicious gossip.

This formation that is me, flowing along, eating and adapting and adopting,
is the same formation that is you, with very small variations in our combination
of genes and experience that give us our uniqueness. This uniqueness is our
own personal potential, and we depend upon each other for sustenance to fulfill
it.

Each centre in our multi-centred universe is dependent in this way. Nothing
abides and we find that everything is fundamentally insubstantial -- shunyata,
emptiness. It is not a vacuum that we perceive, but the absence of a fixed self
in ourselves and in the multitudinous things of the universe. With this perception,
or with an understanding that such an experience is possible, we glimpse the
Dharma: the peace of the fathomless void and the harmony of the many centres
as they flow about and through each other - out there and as this 'me'.

We also perceive misuse of harmony as habitats are destroyed, nations threatened,
childlren and spouses abused and friends slandered.

The Ten Grave Precepts, which make up Shila for the Zen student, are ten ways
to prompt our awareness of the Dharma, the peace and great harmony of life and
death that is our universe. They not only prompt our awareness, they are expressions
of perfection in the Dharma. Each precept is a paramita.

The Ten Grave Precepts.

l. I take up the way of not killing. This First Precept echoes the first of
our Great Vows for All, "Though the many beings are numberless, I vow to
save them." The Precept is specific and negative in wording; the Vow is
universal and positive. The emphasis in the Precept is upon protection and nurturing:
the emphasis in the Vow is upon spiritual encouragement. Both are expressions
of perfections: both enhance the process of perfection.

Usually, nurturing a specific being is clearly also a matter of saving the
universe, but sometimes options of abortion, spraying bugs, and trapping rats
seem to offer ways to keep the world organism thinned and healthy. Such issues
can becone agonizingly difficult, and it is tempting to make decisions on the
basis of persuasive arguments that are over-simple and reductive. They are koans
and must be faced with a clear sense of proportion.

Decisions about the quantitatively larger issue of war and peace have been
clarified by the unprecedented technological capacity for killing which science
has achieved. There is no longer an argument for a "just war", or
for "mutually assured deterence". Incredibly murderous weapons are
prepared to destroy all human life and almost all animal and plant life. The
koan here is how to speak out appropriately and take action that is instructive
in opposition to such weapons and their so-called rationale.

Less obvious, but no less dangerous, is the probability of biological disaster
through the destruction of forests, meadows, wetlands, lakes, rivers, seas,
and the air. I vow to moderate my lifestyle and reduce its demands, and to encourage
you to do the same, for the protection of all beings in their infinite variety.

2. I take up the way of not stealing. This and all the subsequent Precepts
are variants of the first, "Not Killing". "I take up the way
of not stealing" means I will respect the order of things - the paramita
of harmony.

Peasants who occupy unused private land in Central America are demonstrating
their view of the fundamental order. "We are taking what is rightfully
ours", they say. The landlords say they are stealing. The question is,
which view kills? Which view gives life?

3. I take up the way of not misusing sex. Sexual intercourse is misused when
it is an addiction rather than the peak experience of love between a committed
couple. All the Precepts point to addictive behalviour, stealing, lying, using
alcohol or drugs, slandering, even killing. Addiction reveals a lack of confidence,
a need for something from others, the interdependence of all things inverted
for just one being. It is no good condemning promiscuity as immoral behaviour,
for it is only a symptom of general immaturity. Like anybody else, the addict
needs guidance to find a way to forget the self.

4. I take up the way of not speaking falsely. Speaking falsely is also killing,
and specifically, killing the Dharmna. The lie is set up to defend the idea
of a fixed entity, a self image, a concept, or an institution. I want to be
known as warm and compassionate, so I deny that I was cruel, even though somebody
got hurt. Sometimes I must lie to protect someone or large numbers of people,
animals, plants and things from getting hurt, or I believe I must. What is the
big picture? "Buddha nature pervades the whole universe." 1

5. I take up the way of not using drink or drugs. This can be extended to anything
that clouds the mind: silly conversation, noisy music, most TV programmes. But
Buddhism is not absolute. A little wine warms my bones and relaxes my inhibitions,
and casual conversation enhances my humanity and the humanity of others. This
Precept is warning against addiction and dependency. When I am completely honest
at the very source of my thoughts, what is the path of the Buddha?

6. I take up the way of not discussing faults of others. Again, this Precept
too deals with an aspect of killing. More people get hurt by gossip than by
guns. The point is that nobody has a fixed character. Everyone has tendencies,
and those tendencies can be used or misused, read or misread. The tendency to
be accomodating can be seen negatively as passivity, and positively as patience.
Encourage the tendency, and it will find its own perfection.

7. I take up the way of not praising myself while abusing others. The reason
I praise myself and abuse others is that I seek to justify and defend myself
as a certain kind of rather superior being.

Actually, I am not superior or inferior. My actions and words are appropriate
or inappropriate to the needs of people, animals, plants and things, including
myself. If I am authoritarian and put myself up and others down, then I am not
meeting their need to grow and mature or my own to listen and learn. The Buddha
Dharma is obscured. The world suffers.

8. I take up the way of not sparing the Dharma assets. The Dharma assets are
all phenomena in their precious uniqueness, the interdependence of everything
in perfect harmony, and the absence of any abiding self. When I am not stingy
with the Dharma assets, I conduct myself and say things that enhance my own
understanding of uniqueness, harmony and peace - and understanding on the part
of others, so that my family members, friends and everyone and everything can
maintain their path of perfection. Another way to say this is: I conduct myself
so that the original perfection becomes more and more clear to all beings.

9. I take up the way of not indulging in anger. You and I have had the experience
in sesshin of bathing in anger. Something unreasonably tiny, perhaps something
you don't even notice, punctures a nasty bubble of angry gas, and you sit there
playing out scenarios of retribution. Perhaps you blame yourself for this condition,
but it is needless blame, and it only adds to the confusion. Even such a nightmare
of anger is not a violation of this Precept, because if you are sincere, you
return to the practice whenever you possibly can. Anger itself is the field
of your practice, and you pursue the little puck Mu on that field.

Blake says, "the tygers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction."
Kwan-yin hurls a thunderbolt of anger from time to time. Indulgence in anger
is the addiction, and it rests upon pain. What is it that troubles you?

l0. I take up the way of not slandering the Three Treasures. The Three Treasures
are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. These are variously the Historical
Buddha, his teaching, and the fellowship of his followers - and realisation,
the path to realisation, and the harmony of all beings. Slandering such Treasures
is belittling them, and the grossest kind of belittling is conceptual analysis
that reduces and quantifies - obscuring the unknown and unknowable source, the
marvellous subtlety of the Buddha's words and the words of his great followers,
the synchronicity and symmetry of experience, and the precious nature and aspiration
of each individual person, animal or plant.

I take up the Ten Precepts of the disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, and I invite
you to join me.

The Ten Precepts

l. I take up the way of not killing.
2. I take up the way of not stealing.
3. I take up the way of not misusing sex.
4. I take up the way of not speaking falsely.
5. I take up the way of not using drink or drugs.
6. I take up the way of not discussing faults of others.
7. I take up the way of not praising myself while abusing others.
8. I take up the way of not sparing the Dharma assets.
9. I take up the way of not indulging in anger.
l0. I take up the way of not slandering the Three Treasures.